Is it a good idea to include links in a college admissions essay?

Thanks for the A2A.You have already heard from a number of people that including a link in your essay is not a good idea. In my experience of reading many applications over the years I can say that very few students included links to videos in the common application essays. Most people working at highly selective universities are under an immense time crunch during reading season and it is very unlikely that many would take the time to watch a video. Nevertheless, I should mention that things are changing. Or at least they are going to change for 80 colleges and universities starting this Spring. A new group, The Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success came into being this Fall. http://www.coalitionforcollegeaccess.org/ I won’t go into detail but these schools consist of many of the more elite colleges and universities in the US. They are going to offer an alternative to the Common Application. What this means for students like you is that you can now apply for these schools using the new platform. The platform itself has not been released but information about it has. It has actually caused a great deal of controversy but I won’t go into that here. The reason I am bringing this up is that you will, beginning this Spring, be able to put things in what they are calling a virtual “locker”. The locker may contain papers you’ve written or projects you have completed and of course this would be a place for you to highlight your video. The idea is that if you grant schools access to your “locker” they can, if they want, go in and look around to see what is there. The hope is that by doing so they can learn more about students. How the schools will actually do this without hiring a lot more staff is just one of many questions that have been raised, but at least there now seems to be a way you could highlight your video.If I have made you feel a bit better at this point ,I am going to be frank and tell you why, if I was reading your application and looked at your video, I would not be impressed. The video demonstrates how our attention is often focused in ways that we miss big things that happen right in front of our eyes. As such it ‘proves’ how we miss a great deal that happens around us without our even thinking we do. Unfortunately, your video is derivative. The guys who originally came up with this experiment then wrote a book about it called The Invisible Gorilla  The video and the book have been around  for over 5 years. Over 13 million people have watched the video.  The video you show here does just what their video did, so as an admission reader I would not be impressed that you recreated the work of others (and without any attribution). Since you did not mention the earlier video and work of these researchers I would actually tell you that submitting this video would actually hurt your chances should the person reading your application know about the invisible gorilla. On the other hand, If you had something that you and your friends discovered on your own, then you should try to get this in front of someone at the school. I would actually encourage people who have done something significant to send the video to a faculty member at the school who may be doing research that overlaps with your work. I know a student who did this last year and he got the attention and eventually the recommendation of a very well known scientist at the school to write a recommendation on his behalf. (Nota Bene: His video demonstrated an invention he came up with has the potential to help millions so it is not something a lot of people could do.)

I think it is a very bad idea for the Common Application Essay. Admissions Officers do not have the time to click on links, as they have hundreds of essays to read. Let your words speak for you. That said, if you are an artist, send slides of your work. If you are a dancer, sent a video. A musician should send  a recording of their work. These may well be evaluated by professors who can attest to the quality of your work. Just please, no links in the essay!

A2A https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0ahUKEwj_mK-_vrvJAhUY7GMKHUj9AVIQFgg3MAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fowl.english.purdue.edu%2Fowl%2Fresource%2F642%2F02%2F&usg=AFQjCNGXArDlLU3UE-xpgR6o4Uw3Z9H9XA&sig2=MnDCTodDYxfrg6LgXIDT0A&bvm=bv.108194040%2Cd.cGc is what I recommend as a style guide for your Personal Statement. Including a link is a risky strategy because you are dealing with an admissions person who is reading your statement in comparison to the other applicants. He or she may not see your linked - which by the way I did not view and most likely they would not - as supporting your extracurricular accomplishments. Bottom line: When you write, you need to consider your target audience.

Assume printing is done. Drop it. This isn't a Quora answer. Originality and uniqueness should be in how you express yourself, not how YouTube does. Good luck.

No. The admissions staff do not have time to branch off and look at links for areas in which they have little or no experience. Check on the admissions web site. For example, MIT has a special web site to upload portfolios and other electronic supplemental material.   The admissions staff then contact a Professor with some expertise in that area to review your portfolio and provide constructive feedback to the admissions staff.  Follow the guidelines for supplemental material for the college to which you are applying. As for the essay, it is supposed to be You talking to the admissions staff in your Words.   Links are a crutch.   They want You to tell them in your own words.

As other have said, links do not belong in the essay! However, most college applications provide a special place where you can insert links or other resources such as links of blogs, websites, or organizations.  Keep in mind that a college essay should be similar to a formal paper you submit in school. Colleges will most likely be seeing it in a printed format, and won't be able to click on links. For more help with the college essay, you can watch this info-session where I address this question along with many others: https://www.collegeweeklive.com/presentations/#/CWL/11-19-15AdmitSee . (Go ahead and create and account to watch it!) Additionally, there's another really great resource you can use! It's called Admitsee. You can access tons of different profiles from students who have already been accepted to colleges, and have access to sample college essays and other helpful info! I really think it'll be worthwhile for you to check out the site and browse through some example essays. You'll be able to see how students go about talking about their videos without including links. https://www.admitsee.com/?ref=B4I3E6  Good luck!

Absolutely not. Write about whatever you feel is significant. If someone wants a link, he'll ask. When I read a personal essay, I want to stay with the essay, not take a variety of Internet field trips to find out about what the applicant is incapable of explaining.